Quantitative Assessment of Climate Change on Infrastructure in Russian Permafrost Regions

• Main Author: Swales, Timothy Bernard Thomas
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: The George Washington University 2013
• Subjects: Geography; Arctic; Climate change; permafrost
• Online Access: http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1541896

Climate in the Arctic is changing twice as fast as the rest of the globe. This has the potential to impact human development in the region. Although the Arctic is not as densely populated as the rest of the world, there are still substantial populations and economic activity in the region. The Russian Arctic is the most developed region in the Arctic. In the Russian Arctic there are large urban populations and heavy industry that could be affected by climate change. Urban centers and heavy industry all are built on permafrost. Permafrost is ground that remains below 0°C for two consecutive years. Changes to the temperature or extent of permafrost caused by climate change have the potential to cause deformations in infrastructure. This study looks at future climate impacts on infrastructure stability using general circulation models, permafrost, and geotechnical models. The purpose of this thesis is to quantitatively asses the ability of the ground to support large buildings under future climate change scenarios.